CHAPTER III 

 ANDROS 



When the spring of 1936 arrived I had sent a small cruising power yacht, 

 Aquila, to Florida through the Inland Waterway. This boat, in charge of 

 Captain Malcolm Billsborough, was built according to my general ideas, 

 and had been used during the past five years only for summer cruising and 

 sword fishing in Northern waters. From Miami, she proceeded to Nassau 

 where she awaited my arrival. This little yacht was fairly well adapted to 

 island cruising, although on account of her light construction hardly safe 

 to take across the Gulf Stream. She is forty-nine feet overall, eleven feet 

 six inches beam, and three feet six inches draft. In addition to the usual 

 four berths in the main cabin, there is a small cabin forward with two 

 berths. Aft of the main cabin is a galley. A watertight bulkhead separates 

 the above described part of the ship from the engine room, which also 

 serves as crew's quarters. I had some ideas of speed when this little cruiser 

 was built under my instructions, and powered her with a medium speed 

 gasoline motor rated at 1 80 horsepower. The motor never seemed to yield 

 the power claimed for it and as regards speed, the little yacht was a dis- 

 appointment. Her fuel consumption was very great. 



However, Captain Billsborough can make up for many deficiencies in 

 a yacht if he is willing to take her. A born seaman, steady and reliable, he 

 had in his younger days a desire to broaden his knowledge by shipping on 

 many different kinds of craft. His first experience, as a boy, was with the 

 New Jersey oyster fleets in Delaware Bay, and on some saihng yachts. 

 After 1902, he became second mate of a steam driven lumber barge, and 



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